October 2018 Jobs Report

Unemployment Rate: 3.7 percent

Jobs Created: 250,000

Employment and Unemployment

The Department of Labor reportedan unemployment rate of 3.7 percent for October, the same as September. It is the lowest rate in 49 years.

Nonfarm jobs grew by 250,000 in October. Sectors with gains include manufacturing (32,000), construction (30,000), and transportation and warehousing (25,000).

The U.S. has created more than 2.1 million new jobs since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law.

Over the past year, the economy has generated 210,000 new jobs on average each month.

The U-6 rate, a measure of unemployed and underemployed workers, was 7.4percent, down from 8.0 percent a year ago. By this measure, 12.2 million Americans are unemployed. They include people who are unemployed (6.1 million), want work but have not looked for a job recently (1.5 million), or who are working part time because they cannot find full-time jobs (4.6 million).

The number of long-term unemployed, those unemployed for 27 weeks or more, was 1.4 million, down 272,000 from a year ago. They account for 22.5 percent of the unemployed.

Labor Force Participation

The labor force participation rate, the share of people employed or looking for work, is 62.9 percent, up 0.2 percent from September and below the pre-recession rate of 66 percent.

Wages

In October, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents to $27.30. This marks a 3.1 percent increase from a year ago, the biggest annual growth in average hourly earnings since April 2009.